Santorini

cabin. Those two messages have come in since last we saw you. In this case, I don't think their significance will escape you.'

'Ah! This one from the White House itself. 'Two of your philanthropist's beneficiaries are no longer with us. Beneficiary A has been involved in a fatal automobile accident.'' Denholm looked up from the paper. 'Has he now? For Beneficiary A I take it we can read either Admiral X or General Y. Did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed?' He looked at the paper again. 'And I see that Beneficiary B has just disappeared. Again I assume that Beneficiary B was either X or Y. How very inconvenient for them, how very convenient for us.' Denholm looked from Hawkins to Talbot. 'From the very restrained wording I take it that this news is not to be broadcast from the house-tops.'

'I shouldn't have thought so,' Hawkins said. 'We have already arranged for the coded original to be destroyed.'

'I take it then, sir, that speculation about their abrupt departure is pointless.'

'Indeed. Not only pointless but needless. They have fallen upon their swords. One does not wish to sound cynical nor stand in condemnation but it's probably the only faintly honourable thing they have done for a long time. The second signal, Denholm?'

'The one from Heraklion. Interesting, sir. It seems that the Taormina's last port of call, was Tobruk. Furthermore, although it's registered in Panama, it appears to be permanently based in Tobruk. It's more than interesting, it's intriguing, especially considering that that well-known philanthropist sitting in our wardroom seeps to have considerable business interests in Tripoli. It's most damnably frustrating, sir.'

'What is?'

'That we haven't a single shred of evidence to adduce against him, far less proof.'

'I have this feeling,' Talbot said, 'that neither evidence nor proof will ever be required. Andropulos will never come to trial.'

Hawkins looked at him for a few thoughtful moments. 'That's the second time you've said that, Captain. You have access to some information that we lack?'

'Not at all, sir. Maybe I've just got blind faith in this blindfolded goddess of justice. You know, the lady who holds die scales in her hands.' Talbot smiled. 'Or maybe, as Van Gelder keeps on hinting, I have some traces of Highland blood in me. Says I'm fey, the second sight or some nonsense like that. Ah, the man himself.'

'A radio message from Greek Intelligence,' Van Gelder said. He proffered the paper he held in hand.

'Just tell me,' Hawkins said. 'Gently. I'm becoming allergic to bad news.'

'Not all that bad, sir. Not for us, at any rate. Says that someone attached to the department for Middle East and North African affairs — they carefully don't give his name, I suppose he's a minister of some sort, I suppose we could find out easily enough but it seems unimportant — took off by government plane on a routine visit to Canea, the town close by the Souda Bay air base. Never got there. But at exactly the time he should have got there a patrolling Greek Mirage spotted a plane very like the one he was flying in — too much of a coincidence for it not to have been the same plane — passing directly over Heraklion.'

'So, of course,' Talbot said, 'you consulted the chart and arrived at the conclusion that he was heading for some place. What place?'

Tobruk.'

'And you also arrived at the conclusion that he wouldn't be coming back from there?'

'Allowing for the vagaries of human nature, sir, I would not have thought so. Greek Intelligence have also established the fact that the vanishing minister, if minister he was, held an account at the same Athens bank that Philip Trypanis honours with his custom. It would appear, to coin a phrase, that they are now hot on the trail of Mr Trypanis. Whether they nab Mr Trypanis or not hardly seems a matter of concern for us.'

'I would think,' Hawkins said, 'if our philanthropist friend in the wardroom knew of the fate of his pal in government here and those of A and B — or X and Y — in Washington his humour might be in marked abeyance by now. And if he knew that we knew of the Taormina and that its home ba|? was Tobruk, he would be downright thoughtful. Was that all, Van Gelder?'

'On that subject, sir, yes. Captain Montgomery, Professor Wotherspoon and I have been discussing the weather.'

'You have?' Hawkins looked at him in suspicion. 'Don't tell me that Cassandra has you in her clutches again?'

'Certainly not, sir. The Euros has died away. Completely. We suspect it will only be a matter of time before the weather returns to normal. A very short time. Latest met. reports confirm that. The Angelina, at the present moment, is lying between our ship and the Kilcharran, facing north-west. If the Meltemi starts up ? also from the north-west, of course — we won't be able to sail her out of her present position. It might be wise to tow her alongside us now.'

'Of course,' Talbot said. 'See to it now, would you, Number One. After that, let us foregather for the last supper.'

Van Gelder looked through the opened doorway, 'It's already getting dark, sir. You don't feel like waiting for the dawn before we take off?'

'Nothing I'd like better than to wait for the dawn. But we have this duty to our fellow man.'

'We have to be brave, noble and self-sacrificing?'

'The sooner we take off, the easier will lie the heads along the Potomac. Not to mention, of course, those on the; Kilcharran and Ariadne.'

Denholm looked from Talbot to Van Gelder. His face registered an expression of near incredulity.

'Am I to understand, Captain, that you and Lieutenant-Commander Van Gelder are sailing on the Angelina?'

Talbot shook his head. 'I suppose it had to come to this, Number One. Junior officers questioning our nautical expertise.'

'I don't understand, sir. Why on earth are you and Number One going along on the Angelina? I mean ? '

'We are not going along on the Angelina. We are taking the Angelina. Professor Wotherspoon and his wife are the people who are not going. They don't know that yet, of course. The good Professor is going to be very wroth but it's difficult to please everybody.'

'I see, sir. Yes, I see. I should have guessed. I'd like to come along, sir.'

'Yes and no. You shall come along, but not on the Angelina. You will take the launch. You won't start up the engine until we're at least three miles clear. We don't want, you understand, to precipitate any premature big bangs.'

'And then we follow you at that distance?'

'Not so much follow us as circle us at, of course, the same prudent distance of three miles. Your purpose, again, of course, is to ward off and warn off any unsuspecting vessels that come too close.'

'And then help tow you back here?'

'When we've dumped the mine and sailed on a sufficiently safe distance, we'll start the engine and head back. A tow would help. Or perhaps the Admiral will fetch us in the Ariadne. We haven't decided yet and at the moment it's not important. But what I'm about to say is important.

'You will take along with you Chief Petty Officer McKenzie, Marine Sergeant Brown and Petty Officer Myers to operate the radio. Most importantly, you will also take with you, suitably wrapped in plastic, the krytron detonating device and conceal it well. I suggest under the floorboards of the wheelhouse. You will instruct Petty Officer Myers to take along the smallest portable transceiver he can lay hands on and conceal it in the same place. Make sure the floorboards are securely nailed down afterwards.'

'May I ask the reason for this excessive secrecy, sir?'

'You may not for the excellent reason that I have no reason to give you. The best I can do is to wave a vague hand and say that I am preparing for unforeseen eventualities. The trouble with the unforeseen is that it is unforeseeable. You understand?'

'I think so, sir.'

'I suggest you go now and alert your crew. And for God's sake don't let anyone see you wandering around with the krytron under your arm.'

Lieutenant Denholm left. Hawkins said: 'There are times, Captain, when I feel I have to say, with regret of course, that the truth is not always with you. I mean the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.'

'I agree, sir,' Van Gelder said. 'Sets a very bad example for junior officers.'